Taroa Airfield
Taroa Airfield was a major air base approximately three miles long and one mile wide on Taroa Island in the Maloelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The runway, which spanned the length of the island, is still in use today and known as Maloelap Airport (Airport Code: MAV). World War II During World War II, Taroa Airfield was the easternmost Japanese air base. It was a favorite target for Allied bombers from Makin Airfield, Tarawa, and Abemama and was heavily bombed in 1944. It became part of the vast Naval Base Marshall Islands in 1944. In an article about Charles Lindbergh's involvement in the Pacific Theater, G. D. Provenza describes Taroa thus: The target that day was an enemy personnel area on Taroa; this tiny island had already been bombed flat, but hundreds of surviving Japanese troops were reportedly still dug-in there. Over the island at 8,000 feet, Lindbergh pushed forward into a steep 60-degree dive. The enemy gamely fought back, sending up accurate small-arms fire. A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Taroa Island
Taroa is an island in the east of Maloelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. During World War II, it was the site of a major Japanese airfield (Taroa Airfield). The airfield was destroyed towards the end of World War II, and wreckage and remnants of the base can still be seen around the island. The island was not resettled by the Marshallese until the 1970s, but is now the atoll's main economic center due to the re-opened airstrip and local copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ... production. References Maloelap Atoll Islands of the Marshall Islands {{Marshalls-geo-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maloelap Atoll
The Maloelap Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) (also spelled Maleolap) is a coral atoll of 71 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is only , but that encloses a lagoon of . It is located north of the atoll of Aur. In 2011 the population of the islands of the atoll was 682. The largest of the islands that make up the atoll are Taroa (the administrative center of the atoll), in the northeast, and Kaben in the northwest. Only three of the other islands in the atoll are inhabited: Airuk, Wolot and Jang. The island is served by Air Marshall Islands via Maloelap Airport. History Maloelap Atoll was claimed by the Empire of Germany along with the rest of the Marshall Islands in 1884, and the Germans established a trading outpost. After World War I, the island came under the South Seas Mandate of the Empire of Japan. In 1939, the Japanese built a seaplane base and landplane Taroa Airfield with two runways (480 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the International Date Line. Geographically, the country is part of the larger island group of Micronesia. The country's population of 58,413 people (at the 2018 World Bank Census) is spread out over five islands and 29 coral atolls, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. The capital and largest city is Majuro. It has the largest portion of its territory composed of water of any sovereign state, at 97.87%. The islands share maritime boundaries with Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the southeast, Nauru to the south, and Federated States of Micronesia to the west. About 52.3% of Marshall Islanders (27,797 at the 2011 Census) live on Majuro. In 2016, 73.3% of the population were defined as being "urban". The UN also indicates a population d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Makin Airfield
Butaritari Airport is an airport on Butaritari in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati. History Butaritari Atoll Airport was built in Kiribati during World War II by the United States after seizing the island from the Japanese. Construction lasted approximately one month, from November 20 to mid-December, of 1943. During the war, the airport was known as ''Makin Airfield'', ''Butaritari Airfield'', ''Antakana Airfield'', or ''Starmann Field''. The airfield was the base of operations for the United States Army Air Forces Seventh Air Force 41st Bombardment Group which flew four squadrons of B-25 Mitchell medium bombers. Missions from the airfield were flown against Japanese shipping, bypassing islands in the Marshall Islands, Marshalls and Caroline Islands. In addition to the 41st, the 43d Fighter Squadron (15th Airlift Wing, 15th Fighter Group) flew P-39 Airacobras and the 531st Bomb Squadron (380th Bombardment Group) flew A-24 Dauntless light attack aircraft from the airfi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tarawa Atoll
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati ''''. . in the region of the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises , which has 6,629 inhabitants and much in common with other more remote islands of the [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abemama
Abemama (Apamama) is an atoll, one of the Gilberts group in Kiribati, and is located southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator. Abemama has an area of and a population of 3,299 . The islets surround a deep lagoon. The eastern part of the atoll of Abemama is linked together by causeways making automobile traffic possible between the different islets. The outlying islands of Abatiku and Biike are situated on the southwestern side of the atoll. The village of Kariatebike serves as the government center for the atoll which includes an administration building, the police station and a hospital. Abemama was formerly known as Roger Simpson Island, Dundas Island, Hopper Island, or Simpson Island. Geography Abemama has a land area of with a width varying from to . The island has 3 main islets; the largest and main islet has 11 villages and is home to most of the population. Abatiku, an islet located at the north-western reef, and Biike just south of it, have much smalle ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Naval Base Marshall Islands
Naval Base Marshall Islands were United States Navy advance bases built on the Marshall Islands during World War II to support the Pacific War efforts. The bases were built by US Navy after the Marshall Islands campaign that captured the islands from the Empire of Japan. By February 1944 the United States Armed Forces had captured the islands. Most of the airfields and other facilities Japan had built were destroyed in allied bombing raids and naval bombardment. US Navy Seabee Construction Battalions arrived as soon as the area was secured and remove the debris. The Seabees quickly repaired, built and improved the airfield/runways and seaport. Seabees often worked around the clock to get airfields operational so that fighter aircraft and bombers could start operating. The bases were used for staging upcoming campaigns and for repair. History At the start of World War I, Japan took control of the Marshall Islands from the German Empire. Japan built bases on many of the islands ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance of , flying alone for 33.5 hours. His aircraft, the ''Spirit of St. Louis'', was designed and built by the Ryan Airline Company specifically to compete for the Raymond Orteig#Orteig Prize, Orteig Prize for the first flight between the two cities. Although not the Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown, first transatlantic flight, it was the first solo transatlantic flight, the first nonstop transatlantic flight between two major city hubs, and the longest by over . It is known as one of the most consequential flights in history and ushered in a new era of air transportation between parts of the globe. Lindbergh was raised mostly in Little Falls, Minnesota and Washington, D.C., the son of prominent U.S. Congressman from Minnesota, Charles ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast Pacific Ocean theater, the South West Pacific theater, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Soviet–Japanese War. The Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China had been in progress since 7 July 1937, with hostilities dating back as far as 19 September 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. However, it is more widely accepted that the Pacific War itself began on 7 December (8 December Japanese time) 1941, when the Japanese simultaneously invaded Thailand, attacked the British colonies of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong as well as the United States military and naval bases in Hawaii, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines. The Pacific War saw the Allies pitted against Japan, the latter ai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, was one of the first aviators to promote commercial air travel, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. Born and raised in Atchison, Kansas, and later in Des Moines, Iowa, Earhart developed a passion for adventure at a young age, steadily gaining flying experience from her twenties. In 1928, Earhart became the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic by airplane (accompanying pilot Wilmer Stultz), for which she achieved celebrity status. In 1932, piloting a Lockheed Vega 5B, Earhart made a nonstop solo transatlantic flight, becoming the first woman to achieve such a feat. She received the United States Distinguish ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gilbert And Marshall Islands Campaign
The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign were a series of battles fought from August 1942 through February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan. They were the first steps of the drive across the central Pacific by the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps. The purpose was to establish airfields and naval bases that would allow air and naval support for upcoming operations across the Central Pacific. Operation ''Galvanic'' and Operation ''Kourbash'' were the code names for the Gilberts campaign (in modern Kiribati) that included the seizures of Tarawa and Makin, during the Battle of Tarawa of 20–23 November and the Battle of Makin of 20–24 November 1943. Operation ''Flintlock'' and Operation ''Catchpole'' were aimed at capturing Japanese bases at Kwajalein, Eniwetok, and Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Background The Imperial Japanese Navy occupied the Gilbert Islands three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |